The acquisition of a Hewlett Packard (HP) SONOS 1500 Ultrasound Imaging System will facilitate the conduct and significantly enhance the scientific quality of several ongoing PHS-supported projects at the HRCA Research and Training institute. The HRCA is a Harvard Medical School- affiliated academic long-term care facility with an extensive clinical research program devoted to the study of common geriatric syndromes. At the present time, four NIA-funded projects conducted at the HRCA Research and Training Institute would benefit from cardiac ultrasound evaluations of enrolled subjects. Since this equipment currently does not exist at HRCA, subjects must be transported to the echocardiography laboratory at the Beth Israel Hospital (BIH) where Dr. Carol Waksmonski performs the required measurements of cardiac structure and function. This competes with a busy schedule of clinical studies at BIH and incurs considerable expense and inconvenience. Furthermore, it severely limits the number of studies that can be completed within current budget constraints, and impedes recruitment of elderly subjects who are unwilling to travel from their home at HRCA to the acute hospital. The HP Ultrasound System is a state-of-the-art multi-purpose instrument which can be used for cardiovascular, radiologic and vascular imaging. For imaging purposes, ultrasound has many advantages including its safety (ultrasound is biologically safe) and its portability (the instrument can be easily brought to the patient's bedside). There are three important capabilities of the requested Ultrasound System that will greatly enhance the breadth and scientific rigor of ongoing investigations. These include: l) cardiac ultrasound and color doppler imaging for the evaluation of effects of cardiac structure and function on blood pressure homeostasis, and the treatment of congestive heart failure in the elderly; 2) splanchnic blood vessel imaging and doppler blood flow analysis for the study of pathophysiologic mechanisms of postprandial hypotension; and 3) transcranial vascular imaging and doppler blood flow analysis for the investigation of changes in cerebral blood flow during orthostatic or postprandial hypotension in the elderly. The team of users sharing this equipment has considerable prior experience in each of these applications.